Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
Hellbent Brewing Company

Sampling a 16 oz can. Date stamp appears to be 12/18 /23, but could be 25. Should be fine either way. Vintage could be determined by ABV on the can of 10.9%. Beer was received in part of a trade recently.
The beer pours a black coffee color with no light passing through my glass. A creamy tan head foams up about 1.5cm and remains as a sturdy surface covering throughout the sampling. This foam creates dense lattice when I take a sip each time.
Aroma on this beer is some roasted malt and dark chocolate mixing with hints of sweeter bourbon. Not really boozy or fusol and no hop character shows on the nose of this dark beer.
First sip reveals a medium body with very fine and tingly carbonation. texture is smooth with a little coating on my palate after each sip.
Flavor is roasted malt and some charred barrel character, this rolls to a little dark chocolate and some coffee note, which isnt on the label. Sweeter bourbon hits briefly and hints of peppery booze come through on the finish. I never get any hop character on this beer. Pretty straight forward BBA imperial stout, well executed and some balancing flavors with good stout character blending with barrel features. Im enjoying this one.

 

2022-05-30
22oz bottle served in a sort of tulip-y wineglass. Don't see a date on it. Bottle has 9.8% hand-written with a marker on the blank next to abv.

Pours black, brown along the edges, with very little head -- just a thin ring and a tiny island. Smell is rich chocolate and vanilla. Slight dusty smell.

Taste is super chocolatey, slight anise / roastiness. Vanilla sweetness.

Mouthfeel is thick, rich, and nice. Overall, very nice beer.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque black in the glass with a thin brown head that dissipates with good retention and lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, cocoa, light vanilla and bourbon. Flavor is dark toasted malt with a little dry biscuit, milk chocolate, vanilla and bourbon. Finishes with dark malt with good char and lingering light bourbon. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. A nicely barreled imperial stout with moderate, but clear bourbon notes and a solid, flavorful malt base. Great chocolate character with vanilla and char. Hits all the bases. This is the first BA stout I'm aware of from Hellbent and it is quite promising.